Former Costa Rica coach Alexandre Guimaraes to take charge of Mumbai City FC

Mumbai: Former Costa Rican midfielder Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimaraes will coach ISL outfit Mumbai City FC for the third season of the football league.

Alexandre Guimaraes. Getty Images

Borges was the head coach of the Costa Rica national squad and impressed by leading the country past the qualifying stages of the 2002 and the 2006 Fifa World Cups, a Mumbai City FC media release said. He started coaching Costa Rican club side Belen, then moved to another club Herediano in the summer of 1996, and achieved good results with both teams.

Welcoming the signing, Mumbai City FC owner and actor Ranbir Kapoor said, "We are extremely excited to have Alexandre on board with us. As a coach, and as a player, he has always shown endearing and persistent traits, along with a winner's mentality, that resound with our beliefs at Mumbai City FC. We are very confident that he is a right fit for the club, and for this city."

Speaking about his new assignment, Borges said, "I have been coaching in Asia for a few years now and the Indian growth story is something that has caught my eye for quite a while. I was always keen to be a part of this massive football movement, and over my conversations with the club, I almost instantly knew that Mumbai City FC would be the perfect club for me to make my foray into Indian football. I am very excited about this new challenge and I hope, that together with the entire Mumbai City FC team, we deliver a successful season to the people of Mumbai."

Borges was on board with Saprissa, where he worked for several years, winning three national tournaments with them. He has also coached several teams internationally, such as Comunicaciones of Guatemala, Irapuato and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico and tasted success with teams like Al Wasl in UAE and Tiajin Teda in China.